Arizona State University School of Music

Piano Ensemble

Course Syllabus for

MUP 479/579 CME:PIANO ENS

Spring 2015

INSTRUCTORS: Mr. Cosand, Room W-254; E-mail: wc@waltercosand.com

Phone: (480)965-3371

 

 

Here is important information for those registered for Spring 2015!

 

Before Instruction Begins

Please send an e-mail message to Mr. Cosand as soon as possible enabling him to learn your current e-mail address. Please attach your schedule. We will teach this course as lessons this semester. If you donŐt tell us your schedule we cannot tell you when to come for a lesson. If you want to play with a specific partner or are interested in specific repertoire let us know your requests. Likewise, if you want to let us know confidentially that a certain student would not be a good partner we need to know that.

Your instructor will be assigning music the first week; so by the second week you should receive a message telling you when to come for instruction, with whom you will play and which part you should learn. You are responsible to rehearse together once every week in addition to the practice you do individually.

 

Recital Plans

This is a performance course and we want every student to play publicly. Your grade will depend on your cooperation in this aspect of the course. We have scheduled a program in Katzin Concert Hall for 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 24, 2015, and most of you will perform at that time!

 

Learning the Repertoire

This is not ONLY a performance course. Two pianists as an ensemble have a very rich literature of music from which to choose, and we want to make sure that you learn about how much great music we have at our disposal. There are reference books in the music library that are useful for this purpose. For two pianos see Hinson's Music for More Than One Piano (ML 128 .P3H52 1983 Music Ref); for duets McGaw's Piano Duet Repertoire (ML 128 .P3M2 Music Ref). There's also an interesting list of duets in volumes 5 and 6 of Ferguson's Style and Interpretation (M21. F37S9, NOT a reference book). Please note well: in order to get an A for this course, you should cover repertoire (i.e., learn to play it well) at a rate of five works in two semesters. These five works should be chosen with my approval from the following categories: one classical, one French, one Russian, one twentieth-century, and one other. The five pieces should include work at two pianos as well as music for four hands at one piano. Just to give you an example of good repertoire coverage consider this model:

 

Semester One

Two Fugues for Two Keyboards from "The Art of Fugue" by J. S. Bach

Dolly (complete), Opus 56, by Gabriel Faure, for four hands

Danza de Jalisco, by Aaron Copland, arranged by the composer for two pianos

 

Semester Two

Sonata in F, K. 497 (complete), by W. A. Mozart, for four hands

Second Suite for Two Pianos, Opus 17 (complete), by Sergei Rachmaninoff

 

Downloadable Repertoire

Please notice that Mr. CosandŐs website offers a library of free digital music. It is available from: http://www.waltercosand.com/CosandScores

 

Academic integrity

All necessary and appropriate sanctions will be issued to all parties involved with plagiarizing any and all course work. Plagiarism and any other form of academic dishonesty that is in violation with the Student Code of Conduct will not be tolerated. http://provost.asu.edu/academicintegrity

 

Accommodation Notice

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the ASU Disability Resource Center http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/ed/drc/lab/ (Phone: 480-965-1234; TDD : 480-965-9000). This is a very important step as accommodations cannot be made retroactively.  If you have a letter from their office indicating that you have a disability which requires academic accommodations, please let the instructors know no later than the end of the first week of the semester so we can discuss the accommodations that you might need in this class.

Academic Calendar

Please check http://students.asu.edu/academic-calendar for important dates regarding drop, add, and withdrawal. You are responsible for withdrawing from the class, should you wish to do so.

 

Problems?

See Mr. Cosand about problems with this course. Mr. CosandŐs office hours are posted at http://www.waltercosand.com/office-hours.html

He can be reached by phone or by e-mail.